Dragged Across Concrete (2 Stars)

This is the ninth film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

This is a film that I was looking for after seeing "Brawl in Cell Block 99" by the same director, S. Craig Zahler, last year. When the festival hosts introduced the film they said it's not a film for everyone because it's very long (almost three hours) and very slow moving. I was disappointed with the film, but for me the problems lay neither in the film's length nor its pacing.

For the first 90 minutes the film tells two unrelated stories in parallel. It's only in the second half of the film that the two stories merge.

The first story is about two policemen in the American city of Bulwark. I assume the city is fictional. They're tough cops who believe in getting their job done. This might involve being excessively rough with suspects. After Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) is filmed standing on the head of a drug dealer he and his partner Tony Lurasetti (Vince Vaughn) are suspended without pay. This causes problems for both of them. Brett's wife is suffering from multiple sclerosis, and he can hardly afford the medical bills. Tony is planning to propose to his girlfriend. They decide to do a job on the side. Brett is given the name of a drug dealer in another town, and he plans to rob him. This will support the two of them while they have no income.

The second story is about Henry, a criminal who's just been released from jail. He's not really a bad man, but for him crime is the only way he can support his mother and his physically handicapped brother. He gets a job as the driver for a very violent criminal gang.

Then the two stories converge. The person that Brett and Tony intend to rob is more than just a drug dealer, he's the mastermind behind a big robbery in which Henry is involved.

Now here are my problems. The two stories in the first half are uneven. We get to know the two policemen and sympathise with their plight. They're both good cops, they've never taken a bribe, but they're forced into a criminal act by doing their job. The story about the criminal isn't told in as much detail. We hardly get to know Henry because we're introduced to his associates too soon.

Then there are ridiculous things. 90 minutes into the story a new character is introduced. We're given details of her private life, and I felt emotionally drawn to her. I thought it was too late to introduce an important character, but I liked her so much that I accepted it. Then bang! Five minutes later she was dead. What was the point? This is poor screenwriting. The film would have been improved by removing her scenes altogether. She was totally unnecessary.

Other things in the second half of the film are illogical. I shan't give away spoilers. All I'll say is that the film's resolution in itself is good, but what leads up to it isn't satisfying. My overall impression is that the film is a mess.